Cassie is the nine-year-old narrator of the story. She is smart and strong-willed, but at the beginning of the story does not have a strong sense of what it means to be African American in Mississippi 1933. Throughout the novel, she comes to terms with segregation and racism, deals with hardships within her family, and watches the downfall of a friend who gets mixed up with the wrong people. She tries to explain to her friend not to get mixed up with trouble makers, because they were white and all they wanted to do was embarrass a little black boy,and that they did not care not a bit about him. But he does not listen so she pulls herself away from him so she does not get mixed up as well. Despite all she endures, she learns a lot about herself and what it means to be a member of a family who believes in the each other and most of all loves one another.
Stacey Logan
Stacey Logan turns thirteen during the book. He takes life without complaint, using what good it gives him and never dwells out loud upon the bad. As the oldest sibling, he attempts to protect his family from harm and hatred. This gains him much respect from Cassie, Clayton Chester and Christopher-John. Although he usually handles getting into trouble with maturity, he does have a fiery temper. Stacey is much more pragmatic than his sister Cassie; at the start of the book, he has a much better understanding of the realities of segregation and prejudice. He has a very strong sense of what is right and what is wrong, which is evident when his friend, fourteen-year-old T.J., attempts to cheat on an exam. T.J. evades blame by passing his cheat notes to Stacey; rather than tell on a friend, Stacey takes the punishment. However, he then seeks out T.J. and fights him as a means of exacting justice. Stacy has a good understanding of how life works and how to live in it.
David "Papa" Logan
David 'Papa' Logan is the son of Big Ma (Caroline) and is married to Mary 'Mama' Logan. He has one living brother (Uncle Hammer) and two brothers who died. He has a strong character and a good heart. He is very proud of his family's land. But since 1931 Papa has been going to Louisiana, laying down railroad tracks. He works there almost all year round, only returning home in the winter when the ground is too hard to lay tracks. Then he goes back to Louisiana in early spring. He has to go there so he can earn enough money to pay for their 400 acres. And if that's the price Papa must pay for the land, he will do so gladly.
Mary "Mama" Logan
A thirty-four-year-old woman from the Delta, Mary 'Mama' Logan went to high school and was sent to the Crandon Teacher School by her tenant-farmer father. Her father died during her final year in teacher school, and she married David when she was nineteen. She has taught at the Great Faith school for fourteen years; during the course of the novel, she is unjustly fired. She has four children (Stacey, Cassie, Christopher-John, and Little Man) and is married to David 'Papa' Logan.
T.J. Avery
T.J. is fourteen years old and is in seventh grade with Stacey. He is Stacey's best friend, but he isn't liked by any of the other Logan children. He is a troublemaker and lies a lot. T.J. is quick to boast or brag, but equally quick to evade responsibility for the consequences of his actions; several times, he escapes punishment by unfairly placing blame on someone else. Near the end of the book, he robs Mr. Barnett's store with Melvin and R.W. Simms. The brothers kill Mr. Barnett (by hitting him on the head with the dull side of an axe), but T.J. is blamed for it. T.J. is savagely beaten by the brothers, and the racial tensions in town explode and lead to the climax of the story. At the end of the book, T.J. is arrested for the murder of Mr. Barnett. It was, in fact, RW and Melvin. After being arrested he is sent to the chain gang
Secondary characters
Clayton Chester "Little Man" Logan
Clayton Chester Logan, nicknamed "Little Man", age six, is a nice boy who thinks of himself as more grown up, and he looks out for his family and siblings. He is in the first grade, and he is meticulous about his appearance. Little Man gets himself in a lot of trouble with his teacher, Mrs. Crocker (in the first chapter), when, offended by a racial epithet in his "new" textbook, he throws it on the floor.
Caroline "Big Ma" Logan
Caroline "Big Ma" Logan, Papa's and Uncle Hammer's mother, is a woman in her sixties. She holds the deed to the Logan land, which was bought by her late husband, Paul Edward. She married him when she was eighteen, and together they raised six children, only two of whom are still alive, Hammer and David. Big Ma is the voice of history in the book and tells stories about the past to Cassie. She is afraid to die because she is afraid that Mr. Harlan Granger might try to take away the land through legal means. Her love of the land leads her to sign it over to her two sons to protect it from Granger. She has medical knowledge and is often called upon to tend to the injured, including the Berrys, who were burned by the Wallaces. She is very religious and is a source of comfort to Cassie. She is also very good friends with Mr. Jamison, the lawyer. Her grandchildren—Stacey, Cassie, Christopher-John and Little Man—adored her.
Christopher-John Logan
Christopher-John, a short, stout, seven-year-old boy. He is always very cheerful, and is the quietest Logan sibling. He avoids fights and arguments and he has a calming nature. He is friends with Claude Avery, T.J Avery's younger brother. He doesn't like getting involved. He is described as "pudgy" many times in the book. He also likes to have everything his way and likes to be in charge alot.
The Simms family
Jeremy Simms
Jeremy is a twelve-year-old white boy whose family is racist. Jeremy doesn't share his family's beliefs, and he wishes to be friends with Stacey and the other Logan children. Because of this, he is ridiculed by his white peers and frequently beaten by his father and older sister. When his brothers befriend T.J. Avery, Jeremy passes the news that they aren't treating him like they should. He brings Christmas presents (nuts) for the Logan family and a flute that he made himself for Stacey. He helps fight a fire later in the book.
Lillian Jean Simms
Lillian (also known as Mrs Simms) is a racist young girl who is a sibling of Jeremy Simms. She hurts him frequently for contact with the Logan children. Also had Cassie Do her bidding like she was a slave child.
Melvin and R.W. Simms
The older brothers of Jeremy and Lillian Jean. Melvin and R.W. pretend to befriend T.J., but have ulterior motives for doing so: they are planning to rob the Barnett Mercantile, and need T.J. both to help them get in (through a window too small for them) and as a scapegoat. After the robbery, they pin the blame on T.J., joining the lynch mob that goes to his house to kill him.
The head of the Simms household. He sides with his daughter by throwing Cassie into the street when she bumps into her. He is also racist and a really disrespectful person.
Others
Mr. Morrison
Mr. L.T.J. Morrison is a large, muscular, and tall man whom Papa Logan brings home from the railroad after he has a fight with two white men and gets fired. Papa brings him home to protect the family from the Night Men. His own family was brutally murdered by a lynch mob during Reconstruction. His involvement with both Mr. Granger and the Wallaces causes friction and places Morrison in danger. Despite that, he remains with the Logan family as a protector and comes to view them as family. He is described as being like a large tree. When the Wallace brothers ambush Papa, Mr. Morrison, and Stacey, Mr. Morrison severely injures two of them.
Harlan Granger
Harlan Granger is the wealthiest landowner in the county, and the owner of the land surrounding the Logan farm. Originally, the Logans' land was part of the Granger plantation; Harlan Granger wants ownership of it now. He attempts to take the land from the Logans.
Mr. Jim Lee Barnett
Mr. Barnett owns the Barnett Mercantile in Strawberry. Early in the book, he throws Cassie out of the store when she protests his favoritism towards white customers. Later, he is robbed and assaulted by the Simms brothers, R.W. and Melvin. During the course of the robbery, R.W. hits him in the head with the flat of an axe; he later dies from his injuries.
Mr. Grimes
The bus driver for the Jefferson Davis School (the bus only transports white children). He is constantly tormenting the Logan children by forcing them off the road or splashing them as he drives by, but the Logan children stop him by digging a trench to make the bus crash.
Uncle Hammer
Hammer Logan is Papa's brother, and thus the Logan children's uncle. Similar in appearance to Papa, he is described as having a coldness and aloofness with the children can't quite bridge. Hammer also has a dangerously quick temper; when Cassie describes how Mr. Simms pushed her down in Strawberry, he storms out of the house, with the clear implication that he intends to shoot Mr. Simms. Hammer lives "up North," and is considerably better-off financially than his relatives; when he first comes to visit in the novel, Cassie and her family learn that he has purchased a Packard just like Harlan Granger's. His resources, however, are not infinite; later in the novel, he has to sell the car in order to help pay the mortgage on the land. He is a World War I veteran, and walks with a limp due to injuries suffered during the war.
Miss Crocker
Miss Crocker is the Logan children's teacher at the Great Faith School. She is fairly strict, and will not tolerate bad behaviour on the children's part. She becomes irritated when Little Man throws his book on the floor, and his sister, Cassie, does also. This is because they had both read the page with the condition chart, which they, evidently, found very insulting. Later, Mama, the mother of the Logans, and also a teacher, pastes paper over the chart pages, stopping the children from seeing them. Miss Crocker becomes worried, and later, 3 men from the Education Board, Mr. Granger, Mr. (Kaleb) Wallace, and Mr. Wellever, see the pages when in one of Miss Logan's classes, and unjustly fire her. Miss Crocker remained a teacher at the school.
Roll of Thunder Main Characters
(From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roll_of_Thunder,_Hear_My_Cry 11/13/09)Cassie Logan
Cassie is the nine-year-old narrator of the story. She is smart and strong-willed, but at the beginning of the story does not have a strong sense of what it means to be African American in Mississippi 1933. Throughout the novel, she comes to terms with segregation and racism, deals with hardships within her family, and watches the downfall of a friend who gets mixed up with the wrong people. She tries to explain to her friend not to get mixed up with trouble makers, because they were white and all they wanted to do was embarrass a little black boy,and that they did not care not a bit about him. But he does not listen so she pulls herself away from him so she does not get mixed up as well. Despite all she endures, she learns a lot about herself and what it means to be a member of a family who believes in the each other and most of all loves one another.Stacey Logan
Stacey Logan turns thirteen during the book. He takes life without complaint, using what good it gives him and never dwells out loud upon the bad. As the oldest sibling, he attempts to protect his family from harm and hatred. This gains him much respect from Cassie, Clayton Chester and Christopher-John. Although he usually handles getting into trouble with maturity, he does have a fiery temper. Stacey is much more pragmatic than his sister Cassie; at the start of the book, he has a much better understanding of the realities of segregation and prejudice. He has a very strong sense of what is right and what is wrong, which is evident when his friend, fourteen-year-old T.J., attempts to cheat on an exam. T.J. evades blame by passing his cheat notes to Stacey; rather than tell on a friend, Stacey takes the punishment. However, he then seeks out T.J. and fights him as a means of exacting justice. Stacy has a good understanding of how life works and how to live in it.David "Papa" Logan
David 'Papa' Logan is the son of Big Ma (Caroline) and is married to Mary 'Mama' Logan. He has one living brother (Uncle Hammer) and two brothers who died. He has a strong character and a good heart. He is very proud of his family's land. But since 1931 Papa has been going to Louisiana, laying down railroad tracks. He works there almost all year round, only returning home in the winter when the ground is too hard to lay tracks. Then he goes back to Louisiana in early spring. He has to go there so he can earn enough money to pay for their 400 acres. And if that's the price Papa must pay for the land, he will do so gladly.
Mary "Mama" Logan
A thirty-four-year-old woman from the Delta, Mary 'Mama' Logan went to high school and was sent to the Crandon Teacher School by her tenant-farmer father. Her father died during her final year in teacher school, and she married David when she was nineteen. She has taught at the Great Faith school for fourteen years; during the course of the novel, she is unjustly fired. She has four children (Stacey, Cassie, Christopher-John, and Little Man) and is married to David 'Papa' Logan.T.J. Avery
T.J. is fourteen years old and is in seventh grade with Stacey. He is Stacey's best friend, but he isn't liked by any of the other Logan children. He is a troublemaker and lies a lot. T.J. is quick to boast or brag, but equally quick to evade responsibility for the consequences of his actions; several times, he escapes punishment by unfairly placing blame on someone else. Near the end of the book, he robs Mr. Barnett's store with Melvin and R.W. Simms. The brothers kill Mr. Barnett (by hitting him on the head with the dull side of an axe), but T.J. is blamed for it. T.J. is savagely beaten by the brothers, and the racial tensions in town explode and lead to the climax of the story. At the end of the book, T.J. is arrested for the murder of Mr. Barnett. It was, in fact, RW and Melvin. After being arrested he is sent to the chain gangSecondary characters
Clayton Chester "Little Man" Logan
Clayton Chester Logan, nicknamed "Little Man", age six, is a nice boy who thinks of himself as more grown up, and he looks out for his family and siblings. He is in the first grade, and he is meticulous about his appearance. Little Man gets himself in a lot of trouble with his teacher, Mrs. Crocker (in the first chapter), when, offended by a racial epithet in his "new" textbook, he throws it on the floor.Caroline "Big Ma" Logan
Caroline "Big Ma" Logan, Papa's and Uncle Hammer's mother, is a woman in her sixties. She holds the deed to the Logan land, which was bought by her late husband, Paul Edward. She married him when she was eighteen, and together they raised six children, only two of whom are still alive, Hammer and David. Big Ma is the voice of history in the book and tells stories about the past to Cassie. She is afraid to die because she is afraid that Mr. Harlan Granger might try to take away the land through legal means. Her love of the land leads her to sign it over to her two sons to protect it from Granger. She has medical knowledge and is often called upon to tend to the injured, including the Berrys, who were burned by the Wallaces. She is very religious and is a source of comfort to Cassie. She is also very good friends with Mr. Jamison, the lawyer. Her grandchildren—Stacey, Cassie, Christopher-John and Little Man—adored her.Christopher-John Logan
Christopher-John, a short, stout, seven-year-old boy. He is always very cheerful, and is the quietest Logan sibling. He avoids fights and arguments and he has a calming nature. He is friends with Claude Avery, T.J Avery's younger brother. He doesn't like getting involved. He is described as "pudgy" many times in the book. He also likes to have everything his way and likes to be in charge alot.The Simms family
Jeremy Simms
Jeremy is a twelve-year-old white boy whose family is racist. Jeremy doesn't share his family's beliefs, and he wishes to be friends with Stacey and the other Logan children. Because of this, he is ridiculed by his white peers and frequently beaten by his father and older sister. When his brothers befriend T.J. Avery, Jeremy passes the news that they aren't treating him like they should. He brings Christmas presents (nuts) for the Logan family and a flute that he made himself for Stacey. He helps fight a fire later in the book.Lillian Jean Simms
Lillian (also known as Mrs Simms) is a racist young girl who is a sibling of Jeremy Simms. She hurts him frequently for contact with the Logan children. Also had Cassie Do her bidding like she was a slave child.Melvin and R.W. Simms
The older brothers of Jeremy and Lillian Jean. Melvin and R.W. pretend to befriend T.J., but have ulterior motives for doing so: they are planning to rob the Barnett Mercantile, and need T.J. both to help them get in (through a window too small for them) and as a scapegoat. After the robbery, they pin the blame on T.J., joining the lynch mob that goes to his house to kill him.[edit] Mr. Charlie Simms
The head of the Simms household. He sides with his daughter by throwing Cassie into the street when she bumps into her. He is also racist and a really disrespectful person.Others
Mr. Morrison
Mr. L.T.J. Morrison is a large, muscular, and tall man whom Papa Logan brings home from the railroad after he has a fight with two white men and gets fired. Papa brings him home to protect the family from the Night Men. His own family was brutally murdered by a lynch mob during Reconstruction. His involvement with both Mr. Granger and the Wallaces causes friction and places Morrison in danger. Despite that, he remains with the Logan family as a protector and comes to view them as family. He is described as being like a large tree. When the Wallace brothers ambush Papa, Mr. Morrison, and Stacey, Mr. Morrison severely injures two of them.Harlan Granger
Harlan Granger is the wealthiest landowner in the county, and the owner of the land surrounding the Logan farm. Originally, the Logans' land was part of the Granger plantation; Harlan Granger wants ownership of it now. He attempts to take the land from the Logans.Mr. Jim Lee Barnett
Mr. Barnett owns the Barnett Mercantile in Strawberry. Early in the book, he throws Cassie out of the store when she protests his favoritism towards white customers. Later, he is robbed and assaulted by the Simms brothers, R.W. and Melvin. During the course of the robbery, R.W. hits him in the head with the flat of an axe; he later dies from his injuries.Mr. Grimes
The bus driver for the Jefferson Davis School (the bus only transports white children). He is constantly tormenting the Logan children by forcing them off the road or splashing them as he drives by, but the Logan children stop him by digging a trench to make the bus crash.Uncle Hammer
Hammer Logan is Papa's brother, and thus the Logan children's uncle. Similar in appearance to Papa, he is described as having a coldness and aloofness with the children can't quite bridge. Hammer also has a dangerously quick temper; when Cassie describes how Mr. Simms pushed her down in Strawberry, he storms out of the house, with the clear implication that he intends to shoot Mr. Simms. Hammer lives "up North," and is considerably better-off financially than his relatives; when he first comes to visit in the novel, Cassie and her family learn that he has purchased a Packard just like Harlan Granger's. His resources, however, are not infinite; later in the novel, he has to sell the car in order to help pay the mortgage on the land. He is a World War I veteran, and walks with a limp due to injuries suffered during the war.Miss Crocker
Miss Crocker is the Logan children's teacher at the Great Faith School. She is fairly strict, and will not tolerate bad behaviour on the children's part. She becomes irritated when Little Man throws his book on the floor, and his sister, Cassie, does also. This is because they had both read the page with the condition chart, which they, evidently, found very insulting. Later, Mama, the mother of the Logans, and also a teacher, pastes paper over the chart pages, stopping the children from seeing them. Miss Crocker becomes worried, and later, 3 men from the Education Board, Mr. Granger, Mr. (Kaleb) Wallace, and Mr. Wellever, see the pages when in one of Miss Logan's classes, and unjustly fire her. Miss Crocker remained a teacher at the school.